As
it was Palm Sunday, parishioners at Our Lady & St Cuthbert’s
Church in Maybole started their service a little differently.
Everyone gathered outside the church for the traditional
blessing of palms. The Gospel of the triumphant entrance of
Jesus into Jerusalem was read, followed by a procession into the
church with parishioners holding blessed palms and singing “Give
me joy in my heart, keep me praising”. Immediately afterwards,
the theme changed radically with the reading of the Passion from
St Luke’s gospel.

The
Carrick Centre In the Heart of Maybole. The Maybole New Church
Project committee has named the new community facilities at the
Greenside the Carrick Centre and last week its newly elected
Advisory Committee met for the first time. This new centre,
which is estimated to cost about £2,000,000, will accommodate a
youth facility, a coffee shop, conference and community
facilities, as well as the new Maybole Parish Church. more

Pictures from ecumenical services in
Maybole during Holy Week at war memorial on Easter
Sunday morning (left) and Rev Dave White with Fr Stephen
McGrattan at a united service in the Baptist Church last
Wednesday (right).

Rev John Stuart, former minister
of the West Parish Church has been in touch with our local
correspondent. He emailed David Kiltie saying, “No doubt you are
aware of the terrible shootings at the Virginia Tech college in
Blacksburg, Virginia. We are all shocked about the massacre and it
has sadly brought up memories of the Columbine and Dunblane
shootings. What you may not know is that our oldest daughter Lynsey
will be taking up a position at Virginia Tech during summer of
this year. She is going to work in Students Affairs and
administration, so she will have a lot of pain and pressure to
deal with. more

Ellen Hawkes, Project
Co-ordinator, and David Kiltie, representing the Burns Festival
Committee met with local businesses at a cheese and wine evening
last week. The evening was to inform and consult with local
businesses about the proposed heritage event re-enacting the market
fair at Maybole where Robert Burns’ parents first met in 1756.
Business owners were given an overview of “Robert Burns – Where it
began” by Mr. Kiltie and Mrs Hawkes spoke about the information pack
available to businesses. more

The Matt Dunnachie
Award. On Easter Sunday a new trophy was presented to Carrick Sports
Club in memory of founder member Matt Dunnachie. Matt’s wife May
presented club convener Alex Meek with a beautiful new award which
the family felt would mark his long assocation with the club and the
community. The trophy will be awarded annually in
recognition of service to the community of Maybole in
any capacity. more

Duncan & Heather Muir of Breast
Cancer Campaign, Maybole Group, will be honoured at the House of
Lords on Wednesday 9th May 2007 as Volunteers of the Year due to
their outstanding work for Breast Cancer Campaign, fundraising and
raising awareness of the Group and the charity. Heather (left)
and Duncan are with Nicola Inge, Community Coordinator for Breast
Cancer Campaign at a reception in the House of Lords on 8th June
2005.

Can anyone help to trace the history of this
badge? It was given to David Kiltie by David Rarity of Patna. Mr
Rarity is a collector of memorabilia for his own area but had
been given this badge by an antique dealer in Ayr. The
inscription on the back says Maybole C.C. FOOTBALL Badge Ties
1894 WON BY J.D.MILLER What was Maybole CC? Is it a football
badge? What was the competition? Who wad JD Miller?

Maybole Golf Club's Gent Section opening night Cath Ramsay hit
the first ball and Ramsay Eccles gents captain presented Cath
with flowers. The Ladies Section tees off this coming Friday
April 13 at 5.30pm with a fun one club and putter competition.

Maybole Men's Health Forum supported South Ayrshire's 'Mad March'
activity month by inviting P7 pupils from all the local primary
schools, along with their parents, to join them in their regular
Thursday 'workout'. The pupils took part in circuit training
with Health Forum members under the guidance of their regular
trainer, Jamie Dunlop, and then finished off with a game of
indoor football.

Carrick Academy’s Design and
Technology department has formed a link with Goodrich aero
engineering based in Prestwick. Last week Robert Paterson
(Training officer) and apprentice Mark Hodge from Goodrich visited
the school to give an insight into repairing, servicing and
remanufacturing for the aircraft industry. The class of 20 Craft and
Design pupils were led through a presentation and a series of
practical tasks that are carried out by Goodrich. Niall McGinnis
Principal Teacher of Design and Technology said, “This was very well
received and plans are to develop this link further.” Classroom
teacher was Brian Baillie.

Young parishioners of Our Lady
& St Cuthbert's Church held a talent contest last Saturday and
called it "The C Factor" - C for Church. In a hilarious role
reversal, presenters were Fr Stephen McFrattan (played by Kyle
Campbell) and Kyle Campbell (played by Fr Stephen)! Judges were
Louis Walsh (Alex Kelly), Sharon Osbourne (Nancy Flanagan) and
Simon Cowell (Jamie Moan) After a lot of deliberation the winner
was Sam Currie, 2nd was Josh Malone and 3rd were dancers Rhiain
Collins, Paige Campbell and Phoebe McDowall. more

Members of the
Maybole Branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland recently
visited Hollybush House where they handed over a cheque for £500
.

Easter Bonnet
competition at Carrick Sports Club on Saturday evening won by
Linda Cuthbert 2nd right.

During the Easter holidays a Spanish family visited Carrick
Chess Club: Jose & Cristina Espinosa play chess with their
children and the whole family thoroughly enjoy the game. In the
photo are: Peter Edwards, Miguel, Cristina Junior, Monica and
Jose at the front; Alastair Muirhead, Cristina & Athol
Macgilchrist at the back.

.

A
sponsored dog walk was held on Sunday 1st April at Culzean
Country Park in aid of Save the Children (Maybole branch). Over
£1000 was raised. The committee would like to thank all those
who supported the event.

Carrick
Speakers Golf Club Open, Sunday 22nd April On a day which had
promised rain showers, it was sunshine all the way for John McVittie
of Girvan Golf Club and Weir McCulloch of the host club as they
captured the Carrick Sports Club trophy and the Scratch trophy
respectively. On a very competitive day, each recorded victory by
the narrowest of margins with John making his move late in the day
to pip home player Bert Jardine with a net 59. more

The
12th annual Robin Speirs Memorial Golf competition was held on
Easter Sundayat Maybole golf course. There was a excellent turn
out of 30 competitors and the standard of golf was of high
quality considering it was very windy. Winner was Michael
Thomson with a net 63 (and best scratch score 72), second was
John Wood with net 64 (scratch 74) and Third was Ramsay Eccles
net 66 (scratch 72) Food for the golfers was supplied free by
Callum and Lesley of the Maybole Arms, and many raffle prizes
were kindly donated by golfers and regulars of the Maybole Arms.
The raffle raised £170 for the British Heart Foundation our
photo shows left to right Paul Speirs, Robina Campbell and
Michael Thomson.

Pictured are John and Linda Fergusson of 4 star Croyburnfoot
Leisure Park with David Bellamy. In Edinburgh recently, he
presented them with a Gold Award for the third year running. The
award is for conservation such as tree planting and having areas
for animal, insects etc. The Maybole couple have put in a
planning application for a timber lodge development at their
popular site at Croy Shore. John says he feels this would bring
income to local shops, bars and restaurants.

Salmon in the Classroom project success Like other
primary school pupils across Ayrshire, pupils at St Cuthbert’s
school in Maybole last week released their baby salmon, which
they had been caring for since February.
more

Kind hearted residents
of Crosne Street sheltered housing complex in Maybole raised £237
for the Marie Curie Cancer Care fund recently. Last week Mrs Nell
Samson presented the funds to Isabell Montgomerie who said it was a
wonderful amount and the Fund was very grateful to the residents for
thinking about them. “You really are special folks,” she added, “and
I keep talking about you everywhere I go.”

Residents at Crosne St sheltered housing unit before Easter
Sunday lunch. They would like to thank the local butcher for
donating the meat for their lunch.

FAIRKNOWE. The recently formed committee organised a
real fun day last Wednesday, April 11. A good number of
residents’ families and friends attended and everyone thoroughly
enjoyed the day. There was plenty of entertainment, games,
nibbles, drinks and laughter with Guess the Name of the Easter
Toy, a raffle for the “Big Easter Egg” and lots of other prizes.
The Best Easter Bonnet competition was won by resident Mary
Duffy and the Best Decorated Egg competition was won by Emma Lawrie. Everyone enjoyed the community
singing and the Easter Egg Hunt. more

April 2007.
The complete text of the headlines above and more articles follow below.

As it was Palm Sunday, parishioners at Our Lady & St
Cuthbert’s Church in Maybole started there service a little
differently. Everyone gathered outside the church for the
traditional blessing of palms. The Gospel of the triumphant entrance
of Jesus into Jerusalem was read, followed by a procession into the
church with parishioners holding blessed palms and singing “Give me
joy in my heart, keep me praising”. Immediately afterwards, the
theme changed radically with the reading of the Passion from St
Luke’s gospel.

The Carrick Centre In the
Heart of Maybole. The Maybole New Church Project committee has named
the new community facilities at the Greenside the Carrick Centre and
last week its newly elected Advisory Committee met for the first
time. This new centre, which is estimated to cost about £2,000,000,
will accommodate a youth facility, a coffee shop, conference and
community facilities, as well as the new Maybole Parish Church. The
new Community Advisory Management Committee was formed last month
and consists of representatives from local voluntary groups and the
congregation.

The New Church Project committee no longer exists and
at last week’s meeting the advisory committee created a company
limited by guarantee to make applications to funders for the
community facilities. The first directors of the new company are
Bill Miller, Jim Stevens, Hugh Paterson, Peter Lynn, Ellen Hawkes,
David Kiltie, Jim Paterson, Rev Dave Whiteman and Lesley Grant. The
new site has been cleared ready for construction work to begin, and
this innovative project is a clear partnership between the Church
and the community. To date the Maybole New Church Project committee
has succeeded in raising over £1,000,000 for the church and
community facilities from the sale of properties, trust funders, and
donations. A further £100,800 has been raised towards £500,000
needed for a youth wing.

Rev John Stuart, former minister
of the West Parish Church has been in touch with our local
correspondent. He emailed David Kiltie saying, “No doubt you are
aware of the terrible shootings at the Virginia Tech college in
Blacksburg, Virginia. We are all shocked about the massacre and it
has sadly brought up memories of the Columbine and Dunblane
shootings. What you may not know is that our oldest daughter Lynsey
will be taking up a position at Virginia Tech during summer of this
year. She is going to work in Students Affairs and administration,
so she will have a lot of pain and pressure to deal with. May I
humbly ask that the people of Maybole, whom we still love deeply,
will keep Lynsey in their hearts and prayers? May God bless you all,
as well as the good people of Dunure.” Rev Stuart has written a poem
which is now on www.maybole.org and it is working its way across the
Internet in the United States.
Poem

Ellen Hawkes, Project
Co-ordinator, and David Kiltie, representing the Burns Festival
Committee met with local businesses at a cheese and wine evening
last week. The evening was to inform and consult with local
businesses about the proposed heritage event re-enacting the market
fair at Maybole where Robert Burns’ parents first met in 1756.
Business owners were given an overview of “Robert Burns – Where it
began” by Mr. Kiltie and Mrs Hawkes spoke about the information pack
available to businesses. Feedback on ideas for the event was
excellent with 100% backing from the businesses present, all of whom
will wear period dress and dress their shop windows to reflect the
event.
more

The Matt Dunnachie
Award. On Easter Sunday a new trophy was presented to Carrick Sports
Club in memory of founder member Matt Dunnachie. Matt’s wife May
presented club convener Alex Meek with a beautiful new award which
the family felt would mark his long assocation with the club and the
community. The trophy will be awarded annually in recognition of
service to the community of Maybole in any capacity. It will be the
task of the club to decide who will receive the award each year and
a sub committee will be formed to nominate the recipient. The award
winner, individual or organisation, will not necessarily be a club
member. There will also be a certificate to accompany the trophy.

At the presentation on Sunday club secretary Bill
McCubbin said it was appropriate that it held in the Burns’ Lounge
of the club as he remembered Matt working in what was formerly a
room and kitchen. “I well remember matt in the thick of it taking
out the fireplace and putting in support beams away back in the
early 70s,” he said. “Previous to that, he was very much involved in
the creation of the ground floor lounge and what was then the dance
hall.” Bill continued, “As a founder member of this club Matt firmly
believed that it would play an important part in the life of
Maybole. This has indeed proved to be the case over these past 32
years. The fact that this place is here is a tribute to Matt and the
others like him who made it happen through their hard work and
loyalty.” “It is because of his long association with the club that
we welcome May, Edgar, Lorna, Heather and Andrew here today,” he
added. “We know that they were all proud of Matt and who he was, as
indeed we were.” “I feel sure,” he concluded, “that Matt would
approve this gesture in his memory by the family he was so devoted
to.”

Young parishioners of Our Lady
& St Cuthbert's Church held a talent contest last Saturday and
called it "The C Factor" - C for Church. In a hilarious role
reversal, presenters were Fr Stephen McFrattan (played by Kyle
Campbell) and Kyle Campbell (played by Fr Stephen)! Judges were
Louis Walsh (Alex Kelly), Sharon Osbourne (Nancy Flanagan) and Simon
Cowell (Jamie Moan) After a lot of deliberation the winner was Sam
Currie, 2nd was Josh Malone and 3rd were dancers Rhiain Collins,
Paige Campbell and Phoebe McDowall. Father Stephen McGrattan said
afterwards: "There are certainly some rising stars among the young
people of the parish. Not only do they have talent, but they share
it generously with others. Well done and thank you! The C Factor
drew in a large audience of family and friends making it a social
highlight in the life of the parish. There have already been
requests to host the show every year: I look forward to that."

Carrick
Speakers Golf Club Open, Sunday 22nd April On a day which had
promised rain showers, it was sunshine all the way for John McVittie
of Girvan Golf Club and Weir McCulloch of the host club as they
captured the Carrick Sports Club trophy and the Scratch trophy
respectively. On a very competitive day, each recorded victory by
the narrowest of margins with John making his move late in the day
to pip home player Bert Jardine with a net 59.

Over one hundred competitors battled for prizes, the
other major successes being: 3rd J McNulty (Glasgow Gailes); 4th H
McEwan (Brunston Castle); 5th G McCulloch (Brunston Castle); 6th J
Wilson (Brunston Castle). In his closing remarks,club captain, Les
Newlands, thanked Carrick Sports Club for its very generous
sponsorship and club convener, Alex Meek, for presenting the main
awards. The golf club would like to thank all sponsors for their
help over many years without which the competition could not be
held, in particular South Ayrshire Council for granting the courtesy
of the course for the whole day.

On a long but enjoyable day all club members worked
very hard to ensure that all went smoothly, ably assisted by the
ladies of The 18th Hole, the ever-obliging course starter and the
greenkeeping staff who had the course in excellent condition for the
time of year.

FAIRKNOWE RESIDENTS SOCIAL
FUND COMMITTEE. The recently formed committee organised a real fun
day last Wednesday, April 11. A good number of residents’ families
and friends attended and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day. There
was plenty of entertainment, games, nibbles, drinks and laughter
with Guess the Name of the Easter Toy, a raffle for the “Big Easter
Egg” and lots of other prizes. The Best Easter Bonnet competition
was won by resident Mary Duffy and the Best Decorated Egg
competition was won by Emma Lawrie. Everyone enjoyed the community
singing and the Easter Egg Hunt.

Salmon in the Classroom project
success Like other primary school pupils across Ayrshire, pupils at
St Cuthbert’s school in Maybole last week released their baby
salmon, which they had been caring for since February. One of the
pupils told us, “Mr. Minting from the Ayrshire River Trust came to
St. Cuthbert's Primary to talk to us about salmon and other kinds of
fish that live in the rivers around us. “Before he left, he gave us
about 200 salmon eggs to look after. We had to monitor the
temperature of the tank, record the number of fish that hatched and
the number of fish that died. We looked after them for six weeks and
then we released them back into the River Girvan. “We hope to go
back nearer the summer to see if we can find any of the salmon. It
was great fun and we enjoyed the experience of having them in the
class and helping to restore salmon to local waters.” Twelve schools
and Dolphin House Education Centre at Culzean have been involved in
the Salmon in the Classroom project this year, run by Ayrshire
Rivers Trust.

The project involves an afternoon lesson to primary
school classes on local rivers, including threats to wildlife such
as pollution, habitat loss and overfishing. The salmon life cycle is
then covered in detail including breeding behaviour and migration.
After advice on how to look after salmon eggs, the class is provided
with an aquarium containing around 200 salmon eggs. The aquaria are
fitted with thermostatic coolers, to cope with high classroom
temperatures and keep the water at the same temperature as the
river. The coolers ensure a high survival rate and allow the
children to see the development of the fish for longer before they
are released. Pupils keep a daily record of the progress of the
salmon and create posters on the salmon life cycle. Eggs have been
supplied by local hatcheries approved by District Salmon Fishery
Boards using only native salmon.

Children learn to identify different fish species and
how to assess water quality by sampling river invertebrates. The
project has significantly expanded since 2005, when four schools
took part followed by ten in 2006. In 2007 the following primary
schools have taken part; Barr, Dailly, St Cuthbert’s and Cairn
(Maybole), Dolphin House (Culzean), Minishant, Heathfield, Dundonald,
Tarbolton, Catrine, Patna, Dalmellington and Muirkirk. Ayrshire
Rivers Trust biologist Peter Minting has been developing the project
and applying for funds from different sources. A large portion of
funding for SITC has been provided by the Big Lottery Fund’s
Fairshare Trust, which is funding five schools in the Maybole area
until 2008. Scottish Natural Heritage, Spirit Aerosystems, East
Ayrshire Council, South Ayrshire Council, the Hadyard Hill Windfarm
Community Fund and Minerals Trust are now also helping to fund the
project. Peter Minting has again been running the project in 2007,
with the help of senior biologist Brian Shaw.

Travel Connections is managed by
Stepping Stones for Families, a national voluntary organisation.
This project serves the Maybole Fair Share Area and is an expansion
of the established Girvan project.

Our Aim

To support people within the
Maybole Fair Share Area to make positive changes in their lives
through accessing employment, training, health or welfare services
and community activities by providing transport where private or
public transport is unavailable or inaccessible.

Our Purpose

To develop and run a subsidised
transport service to ensure that people living in rural areas can
access local services and activities.

Can You Use The Service?

Yes, if you live in the Maybole
Fair Share Area and you want to use a service either within the
Maybole Fair Share Area or nearby and you don’t have access to a car
for the journey you want to make and no public transport is
available within half an hour of the time you need to travel

Physical Disability

If you are registered disabled and
are unable to step on to a normal service bus, then we may be able
to book a taxi for you even if public transport is available.

How Will You Travel?

Initially travel will be by
private taxi either directly to the service you want to use or to a
place where you can get a train or bus. We will be recruiting
volunteer drivers to assist with transport. Please contact us if
you wish to join this exciting venture.

What Is The Cost?

£3.60 per journey for an adult
(16+ if left school)

£1.80 per journey for a school
pupil

Pre-school children free of
charge.

No other concessionary fares.

How Do You Pay?

You buy tickets from Travel
Connections or from one of our ‘Village or Community Champions’.
More details when you register.

Travel Connections Identity Cards

You will need a Travel Connections
Identity Card which requires a recent photograph of yourself. This
can be created for you by the Travel Connections staff upon
registration with the Project.

Conditions Of Service

Children under 12 years of age
must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Seatbelts MUST be worn
in accordance with current legislation. It is the responsibility of
parents to ensure that all children under the age of 12 travel in
the rear seats of the taxi and also to ensure that appropriate
safety restraints are used.

Liability

Stepping Stones for Families
accepts NO liability for any loss or damage occurring through use of
the subsidised travel scheme. If any problem should arise passengers
should contact the Taxi firm providing the transport.

Mission

Stepping Stones for Families is a
national voluntary organisation which has been connecting with
families and young people in Scotland for over 15 years. Our work
today provides support, opportunity and a voice for families and
young people affected by disadvantage.

Vision

By providing innovative solutions
and working in partnership, we will continue to support communities
in need within Scotland. Our work will target the

effects of poverty and exclusion.

Statement of Values

Stepping Stones for Families’
members and volunteers are committed to upholding the core values
which underpin all of the work carried out by the organisation.

OPENING TIMES

Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 4.00
pm

All bookings must be made at least
two hours in advance of required journey, except weekends and early
Monday requests which must be received no later than 2 pm on Fridays